Hare Ribbin'
Hare Ribbin' is a 1944 Merrie Melodies short directed by Robert Clampett. Title The title is a pun on "hair ribbon". Plot A dog with a Russian accent (a la Bert Gordon's "Mad Russian") is hunting for a rabbit by sniffing a trail. He happens upon Bugs who begins to torment the dog. This prompts a chase, which leads to a nearby lake where the rest of the story continues. Most of the action takes place underwater. Eventually, the dog corners Bugs and demands he give him a rabbit sandwich. Bugs obliges, and the rabbit places himself between two giant slices of loaf bread with his legs curled next to his body. The dog takes a bite and Bugs screams and fake his death. The dog becomes instantly grief-stricken and sobs, declaring that he should be the one to die. With this statement, Bugs springs back to life asking, "Ehhhh...do you mean it?", and obliges the dog's death wish (see Censorship below) The dog falls to the ground, Bugs plants a flower on his chest and dances away into the distance. As the cartoon is about to "iris out" the dog sits up, holds the iris before it closes, and declares "This shouldn't even happen to a dog!" He then lets the iris go, but it closes on his nose in the process, making him yelp in pain. Availability * (1988) VHS - Cartoon Moviestars: Bugs! (a.a.p print) * (1988) LaserDisc - Cartoon Moviestars: Bugs! and Elmer! (a.a.p print) * (1990) VHS - Bugs Bunny Collection: Bugs Bunny's Festival of Fun * (1991) LaserDisc - The Golden Age of Looney Tunes, Vol. 1,Side 7, Bugs Bunny By Each Director * (1991) VHS - The Golden Age of Looney Tunes Vol. 7: Bugs Bunny By Each Director * (1997) LaserDisc - The Golden Age of Looney Tunes, Vol. 5, Side 8 (special feature, director's cut) * (1999) VHS - Looney Tunes: The Collectors Edition Volume 10: Canine Corps (1995 Turner dubbed version) * (2007) DVD - Looney Tunes Golden Collection: Volume 5, Disc 3. This DVD set has the original cut of "Hare Ribbin'", and the director's cut as a special feature; with the former restored and remastered and the latter unrestored and unremastered (there is a noticeable color difference between the two). Censorship * This cartoon short holds the distinction of having two endings, both of which are too violent by today's standards to be shown on children/family-friendly television in the United States: ** The original ending—Where the Russian Dog, distraught over Bugs' "death", wishes he were dead too, and Bugs obliges by giving the dog a gun so he can shoot himself in the head—once played in theaters to a general audience, is now commonly cut from television versions on network TV and cable TV (specifically Cartoon Network, Boomerang, TBS, TNT and The WB, excluding an episode of Cartoon Network's The Bob Clampett Show and two appearances on Cartoon Network's New Year's Day Looney Tunes marathons in 2009 and 2010, where the cartoon played with its general release ending uncut and uncensored). The censored version has an edit occurring between the scene where Bugs says "Do you mean it?" and the dog laying down, making it seem as if the dog had dropped dead out of guilt without shooting himself. ** The "director's cut" ending—Where the Russian Dog, distraught over Bugs' "death", wishes he were dead too, and Bugs obliges by pulling out a gun and shooting the dog through the mouth—did not make it pass the Hays Office censors and was never shown in theaters or on television. An episode of Cartoon Network's The Bob Clampett Show that aired "Hare Ribbin" with its general release ending mentioned that "Hare Ribbin'" had an alternate ending that was never shown (and due to its violence, never will be). Despite this claim, the version of "Hare Ribbin'" with the "director's cut" ending was previously discovered on the fifth volume of the "The Golden Age of Looney Tunes Volume 5" laserdisc set and is now on the fifth volume of the Looney Tunes Golden Collection DVD set as a special feature. * To a lesser extent, the general release version also added in a scene between Bugs using a triangle and saying "Come and get it!" to the dog relating to the "rabbit sandwich" and the dog about to bite down on the sandwich; Bugs Bunny looks at the camera and winks to the audience as he lifts up part of the sandwich and curls up to just beyond the dog's reach. This was presumably added in to assure audiences that Bugs was never in any real danger of being bisected and killed by the dog, but Bugs was actually in grave danger of being killed in the "director's cut" version. However, eagle eyed viewers can note that in the general release version the scene was just spliced in on close examination. * Another change to the director's cut is that the tag scene, the panting scene, and the scene where the dog is sniffing Bugs Bunny is longer. ** Due to those scenes being shorted, the dog sniffing scene in the general release version has an abrupt cut right before it. Notes * Although this cartoon short is a typical Bugs Bunny chase plot, there are a number of things that stand out: :* Bugs is pursued by a dog with a frizzy hair and a Russian accent. The accent is a play on The "Mad Russian" character originated by comedian Bert Gordon (with his catchphrase, "How DO you DO?") that was popular on radio at the time. The voice here is provided by Sammy Wolfe. :* When the dog sniffs Bugs' armpit, he says "body odor" in a foghorn-like voice. That was inspired by radio commercials for Lifebuoy soap. :* This is sometimes called the "Underwater Short." Early in the short Bugs is chased into a lake by the dog and the rest of the cartoon takes place at the bottom of the lake. This may be to set up a long gag in which Bugs disguises himself as a sexy mermaid. Bugs as the mermaid greets the dog in a high-pitched voice, saying 'hello, big boy', pretending that he fell in love with him. The dog also falls in love with the 'mermaid' and offers Bugs to play games with him. Bugs replies 'ok, Don Juan' and they play hide and seek together. The dog closes his eyes and Bugs knocks him with his mermaid tail, but that makes him even more happy and the dog and the 'mermaid' continue playing romantic games happily. The dog says to his love that is her turn to chase him and Bugs knocks the dog with his mermaid tail, sending him into a rock. In any case, the action remains underwater for the rest of the film. * In Batman Beyond: Return of the Joker when Bruce Wayne's dog Ace is recovering from the Joker's attack he is shown watching the part of this cartoon where the dog thinks he killed Bugs and says "I don't deserve to live! I wish I was dead!" Coincidentally, this scene also ended up censored in some airings of the film (specifically, having him repeat the words "I don't deserve to live" over and over instead of his original dialogue where he whines that he wished he were dead twice.). * When Bugs Bunny tells the "chef" to get a Bunny, audio of the chef talking was captured from Bugs Bunny Nips the Nips. * This is the first cartoon to have the WB shield change to a face of Bugs Bunny. * The animation when Bugs dances away at the end is partially reused from "A Corny Concerto" which was released a year before this short. * The ending, where the dog says "This shouldn't happen to a dog!" and it closes on his nose, was later reused in Courage The Cowardly Dog's pilot episode. * The European Turner dubbed version uses the 1938-41 rendition of "Merrily We Roll Along" instead of the 1941-55 rendition. Gallery Hare ribbin alterneate ending.jpg|The two alternate endings to ''Hare Ribbin', ''general release (left), "director's cut" (right). Each depicts the dog's death via gun violence, which is today considered too harsh for its target audience. Hare ribbin alternate scene.jpg|This scene of Bugs telling the audience that he simply tucked himself in far from the position of the dog's mouth is absent in the "director's cut" version. Hare_ribbon.jpg|Lobby Card External Links * "Hare Ribbin'" at SuperCartoons.net * "Hare Ribbin'" at B99.TV Category:Bugs Bunny Cartoons Category:1944 Category:Cartoons directed by Bob Clampett Category:Shorts Category:Merrie Melodies Shorts Category:Cartoons written by Lou Lilly Category:Cartoons with music by Carl W. Stalling Category:Cartoons with characters voiced by Mel Blanc Category:Cartoons with orchestrations by Milt Franklyn Category:Cartoons with film editing by Treg Brown Category:Cartoons with sound effects edited by Treg Brown Category:Cartoons produced by Leon Schlesinger Category:Cartoons in a.a.p. package Category:Cartoons that reuse footage from earlier cartoons